Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Alvin Lee Sealy . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alvin Lee, appreciate you joining us today. Alright, so we’d love to hear about how you got your first client or customer. What’s the story?

The inception of my service began its course in lieu of the pandemic. Couriers were classified as essential workers and I guess you can say that I was still internally dealing with the loss I experienced in 2016. I returned to Maryland from Orlando, FL on June 29, 2016. I slept on a friends sofa for almost a year to which I survived through with my mechanic skills, an attempted venture into e-commerce, and also driving for various third-party courier companies. I continued as a courier for the remainder of 2016 until the beginning of 2020.

Right before the shutdowns and quarantines began, a floral shop owner took a liking to how I conducted myself; she was initially utilizing a 3rd party courier service that I was driving for, and had already been accepting Valentine’s Day orders, so she wanted me to be a part of that delivery day, and I made exactly $45 for about 2-3 hours of deliveries. She became my first client, and not too long after that, I began getting referrals from the her, and subsequently, started to accumulate more steady clients, the rest was history!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My story starts from humble beginnings; I am first generation American with parents from the West Indies, St Lucia & Dominica to be exact. My father was a business owner, and I knew that one day I wanted to own a business as well, being my own boss was really the focus I had because of my lack of appreciation for being told what to do.

My educational background is in Automotive Technology, and so I decided to become an auto technician with goals of owning my own shop, but those dreams were shattered after getting into a car accident that hindered me from doing heavy/intense work on cars for a couple years. I remained in the industry but decided to pivot into parts, to which I became a parts counter person for an Infiniti dealership. During my time at the dealership, I made it a point that the dealership was going to be my last job; I began doing research on franchises, and what type of franchise I wanted to get into, but in the mix of that, I ended up meeting a gentleman who introduced me to an opportunity to get into finance. And so, in late 2009, the pursuit of opening a bank with that group of individuals became the initial focus, which ultimately ended up changing into Mergers & Acquisitions. Fast forward to 2016, after the M&A business went down, I was forced to start over and reinvent myself, I began to take an interest in the culinary arts with a primary focus on plant-based cuisine. I created a couple products made from sea moss that myself and others felt should be in super markets, however, during that endeavor, the shutdowns that occurred with the pandemic halted the food business course I was participating in, which I attempted to continue the pursuit and began seeing some success but another form of loss took place and I started to loose my motivation to continue. Subsequently, I created an opportunity to focus on and deliver plants. Given the devastation from the pandemic I looked at it as delivering love & happiness to those stuck in their homes, which became very lucrative. Plant delivery wasn’t particularly a new service but I believe my approach and formation of it is what set me apart from other similar services.

I became very proud of myself for being able to turn a survival tactic into a business during the pandemic, it brought a sense of purpose and meaning to my life in the midst of the prior losses. The reactions I would get from customers when I would deliver a plant was priceless, especially when a person didn’t know why I was on their doorstep, it turned from an initial irritation to a huge smile and appreciation for a plant being delivered. I’m really big on customer service, so I would go above and beyond when the opportunity presented itself to cater to the customers needs, whether it was just bringing a large heavy plant into their home or placing/arranging it in a way that they would be satisfied while engaging in conversation about how to care for the plant.

I’m in the process of restructuring and rebranding, but the company will be called Plant Life, spelled with an artistic twist; PlntL1fe, which will also encompass art as well. Stay tuned in to the growth of the seeds I’ve planted!

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Resilience is really at the basis of my journey due to all the trials and tribulations I’ve faced. I have a level of relentlessness when it comes to my pursuit for success. My ability to bounce back from the 2016 loss is my biggest story of resilience, despite being in a dark place for about 2-3 years. Deep down inside, I absolutely believe I have a greater purpose to where resilience is part of my DNA.

At the height of my success, is when I felt on top of the world, and so this next part is where hind sight is 20/20; in the first quarter of 2016, I was actually fired from my position as the president of my company despite still being an owner and board member, and also knowing the company was going down regardless. That was one of the lowest blows I took that caused me to want to take a break from business, however, I still had it in me to be my own boss once I decided to heal and move past my internal feelings for that situation. I have a greater appreciation for that loss because it solidified my ability to persevere and overcome any obstacle or challenge.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

My reputation in my market was built on providing great customer service and always showing up; I’ve never called out or have been unable to finish the job. I’ve always made sure the plant was delivered even if a mistake was made on my clients part, which I typically get grouped into mistakes that I had nothing to do with, but I always made it a point to fix/correct the problem; my position is at the end of the supply chain process for the customer, so despite not feeling like I’m suppose to fix the problem, it’s still some form of a team effort and it wouldn’t sit right with me if there was any kind of mistake, which I may never truly get the credit I deserve, but I feel good knowing that the customer has been satisfied.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thegoodsdeliveryservice.com
• Instagram: @plantlife_al
• Linkedin: Alvin Lee Sealy

Image Credits
Justine Swindel is the artist for the mural picture